A Thousand and Three Words
by cr8vgrl
Summary: Tess discovers that a picture is truly worth a thousand...and three words. 101 Prompts Challenge.


**This is Prompt No. 71-Camera**

Tess Tyler was sprawled out on the floor of her bedroom, a cup of coffee sitting next to her and three boxes sitting in front of her. She pushed back a strand of blonde hair and leaned forward again, dragging one of the boxes closer to her. She lifted the lid and set it aside as she pulled out the contents of the box.

A smile crossed her face as she thumbed through each tiny sheet of paper, a picture printed on each one. These were from her favorite year of Camp Rock where she had made such wonderful friends like Mitchie Torres, Caitlyn Gellar once again, and the members of Connect 3. She shook her head as she found a picture of Mitchie and Caitlyn hanging upside down from the porch railing in front of their cabin. "Dorks," she muttered happily as she set the picture back in its place.

There was a picture of Mitchie and Shane together in a canoe, and Tess could remember that at the time she had taken the picture, they had still been going around and around in circles. Either they really couldn't understand how to work a canoe, or it was just a tradition that must be upheld. "The latter," Tess said out loud, grinning as she glanced over her friends' happy faces. Those two were so in love, and it was something that Tess had always wished for.

She glanced rather longingly at the dresser across the room, her main reason for pulling these picture boxes out in the first place. On her dresser sat a little frame that her friend, Jason, had sent her for her birthday, and she wanted to find the perfect picture to put into it. Tess looked back down at the pictures in her hand and began thumbing through them again, finding pictures of Brown, Lola, Barron, Sander, Ella and Peggy as well. There were several goofy pictures, and some rather good ones, but Tess couldn't find one that stood out enough for her to choose it.

Her search was interrupted by the shrill vibrating of her cell phone, which was nestled in her pocket as usual. She pulled it out and flipped it open. "Hello?"

"Hey, Tess!" came the excited voice on the other end.

Tess smiled and grabbed her cup of coffee, knowing that this call might take a while. "Hey Jason," she greeted her friend. "How are you?"

"Fine!" came the voice once again, boyish excitement coming through the phone loud and clear. "You'll never guess whose house I'm coming to."

Tess tried not to roll her eyes at his rather primitive ways. "Um, mine?" she guessed.

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a moment before Jason whined, "That's not fair! How'd you guess that?"

Tess grinned and cast a glance at her calendar hanging on the wall with **Jason Comes Over** in bold letters. "Lucky guess," she answered.

"Wow," he responded. "You're a really good guesser." There was a pause and he then said, "I'll be there in a few minutes, 'Kay?"

"Okay," Tess said. "Talk to you when you get here."

They hung up and Tess turned back towards her boxes of photos. She wanted to find one for her frame so that she could show Jason today that his gift had meant a lot to her. Deciding that there were probably not any good pictures from the Camp Rock gang, who seemed to have a knack for ruining perfectly good pictures by acting silly, Tess pushed aside the first and second boxes, turning to the last one marked "Tess."

"There must be something in here," Tess said aloud, pulling the top of the box off and reaching inside to grab the first batch of photos. She weeded through baby pictures, which actually weren't too embarrassing, childhood pictures, concert pictures with her mom, and teenage pictures. None seemed to be quite right, for most of them had only her in the picture. Tess chewed on her lip. She wanted someone else to be with her as well.

She had almost given up and resolved to put the boxes away and save them for another day when her hands stilled and her mouth dropped open. There, in front of her, was the perfect picture. She picked it up, pulling it closer and whispered, "Oh my gosh."

The picture in question was one of her and Jason sitting across from each other, their foreheads touching and their noses almost pressed up against each other. The picture was in black and white and had been taken by Caitlyn, who had gone through a picture-taking phase a year ago. They had wide smiles on their faces, but it was their eyes that captivated Tess and made her catch her breath. Someone had said that "A picture's worth a thousand words," and that person was right. Tess could see the humor, the friendship, and the slight guilt in Jason's eyes and remembered that the picture had been taken right after he and Tess had played a prank on Shane. But it was the love in his eyes that startled her now as she gazed at the picture.

And it was the love the reflected from her own eyes that startled her as well. Tess moved the picture closer to her face, thinking she might have been mistaken, but she was not. Clearly, her eyes spoke the same words of love right back to Jason. With the utmost care, Tess stood and cradled the picture as she walked to her dresser. There, she placed the picture into the frame and gazed at it for a long while. She had found what she was looking for, in more ways than one.

A bang on the door startled Tess out of her thoughts. She heard a rustling in the kitchen and smiled as the young man from the picture called out, "I'm here, Tess!"

Tess smiled and tucked the picture frame under her arm as she strode into the kitchen. "Hey!" she greeted him. Jason was standing there, flowers in hand, looking rather sheepish. "What are these?" she asked.

Jason seemed to blush as he handed them to her. "They're for you. Today's our hang out day, remember?" he explained as though she had forgotten.

Tess took a step towards him and nodded. "Yes," she said softly. "I remember." She took another step towards him and held up the picture frame. "Do you remember?"

For a long moment, Jason gazed at the picture, no doubt seeing the same emotions Tess had seen in his own way. He nodded slightly. "Yes," he said softly.

With a surge of courage, Tess stood up on her toes and kissed Jason softly. He was still for a moment before he returned the kiss, pulling her closer to him. When she pulled away, Tess smiled up at him and said, "Now, I understand."

With another smile, Jason pulled Tess close and kissed her again. And as Tess wrapped her arms around Jason's neck, she realized something. The person that had said, "A picture's worth a thousand words," was wrong. A picture was worth a thousand...and three words. When Jason pulled away from her slightly, Tess spoke the last three words so softly that they sounded like a prayer.

"I love you."

**A/N: Comments? I left my other story at home, so I couldn't work on it, but this idea just came into my head, so I thought I'd give it a try. A shoutout to applepips16 for requesting more Jason/Tess. Thanks for asking! And a special shoutout to Casi, who inspired Tess being such a great guesser. ;) Love you!  
**


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